Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria

The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAPO) was a social democratic party in Austria which existed from 1888 to April 1945. The party originated as a Marxist party in Vienna and other industrial areas, and it campaigned for the right to vote for workers. In 1907, SDAPO achieved universal suffrage after a general strike, and the SDAPO dominated the First Austrian Republic until the rise of Engelbert Dollfuss' Fatherland Front. SDAPO formed the Schutzbund to fight against fascism, but the fascist VF won the 1934 Austrian Civil War. For this reason, SDAPO supported the Anschluss with Nazi Germany, believing that a united Germany under Adolf Hitler would be better than Dollfuss' fascist state. However, the sobering reality of Nazi occupation eventually struck the people, and the new Social Democratic Party of Austria was founded upon the liberation of Vienna by the Red Army in April 1945 during World War II.